Wine, Art, Music and Birthday Cake

Friday night I packed up my gourds and met a friend in Amador City. This is , as I have said before, my favorite little town on Highway 49 in the Mother Lode. They were having a celebration of Wine, Art and Music Friday evening and for the second year in a row, we sold gourd art on the main street. Christy( a fellow gourd club member) and I set up a table at about 4;30 p.m. and introduced ourselves to the people next to us from Drytown Winery. Then, about 5:00 folks started arriving and the music began to play. The weather was beautiful. We have had a mild summer so far (knock on wood) and there was NO SMOKE like last year, when we had such awful fires in the area.

Everyone had a great time and we sold some gourds; the wine flowed and the music was wonderful. This festival personifies the Mother Lode, Foothill , laid back kind of feeling that drew us to this area 13 years ago. Lovely town, nice people and respect for the budding wine industry that can hold it's own against all the big wine areas in California. Lots of artist were represented and the wine tasting, as always, was a great success.

Yesterday the Prospector, the Pupster and I went to Stockton to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday. She's 88 yrs old and doing very well. We had a bar-b-que lunch and her brother came up from southern California to help her celebrate. I think that grandma Vi had a good time. This woman has always been wonderful to me and welcomed me into their family, 44 years ago, with open arms and respect. She deserved this nice day.

Today is going to be a lot warmer. I went out early and watered the garden. Now, I need to pick some basilico, cook some beets and clean the house before I curl up into a little ball and take a nap this afternoon. I love being retired but I don't know what happen to my energy level. I get up and feel like I can lick the world and then, by lunch, that energy is gone with the afternoon winds. C,est la vie....

Gettin' busy- gettin' motivated

Yesterday the gourd group met at the library and set up our annual display. We do this every year to let the community know what we do and who we are...., and to just plain show off. We have such fine artists in our club (Amador County Gourders) and we love to show folks what we do. Next Thursday we will have our monthly meeting at the library and anyone can join us, ask questions and find out what it is that all these crazy people do with gourds. We end up showing people that gourd art is fun , beautiful and profitable (well, sometimes). The display case looks really good. Everyone who contributed should be really pleased with it.

So, all of a sudden I realized that I was spending way too much time with the goats, the garden and the computer. With two shows coming up next month I had better get hoppin'. So here's my mess. These are the bit's and pieces of what will become pins, wall hangings, ornaments and gourds of a different color. I have two weeks before the first show : the Amador Artists Open Studios Art Tour on Sept. 20 & 21. For the first time ever, we have been invited to be a part of this tour. It's really exciting! But, in order for this to go well ,you have to have some finished gourds to display and that's what I need to do. ..., finish something.

Right now I have pieces of gourd, leather dyes, drills, sandpaper, my new mask (to keep the gourd dust at bay) and tons of embellishments. I have found the all time best scissors for cutting detail work. The Cutter Bee is great for small neat cutting. I have 3 pairs. I get mine at Wall Mart. They are the least expensive there. About $7.00, ( I'm guessing), and they have a safety cover. If you do any kind of scrapbooking, or paper work you have got to get a pair of these.

Ok! Got my gourd pieces, good idea books, glue, scraps and I'm motivated. Being motivated in your 60's is very important. It helps you keep moving and thinking: because after 60 you've got to put one foot in front of the other and get a little crazy. If you don't, the "powers that be" may think you don't want to be here anymore. I certainly don't want that to happen. I've got too many things to do first. Fair warning to all you "young'uns" out there. You've got time on your side, so if you have something you want to do. DO IT.

Well..., I'm going to start drilling and scraping the guts out of another gourd in the garage. Sounds kind of maniacal doesn't it? But it's fun! Ha,ha,ha,ah,ah! Want to join me? Halloween is just around the corner. Summer is almost over!!!!! Yes! Life is good and ..., Oh no, the chickens are heading for my garden. I've got to go and head them off at the pass. See you tomarrow......

Queen Bee....autiful!

These are my wonderful "buys" at the Queen Bee in Lafayette Ca. I really wanted the blue bench and the Pig, but we just can't have everything we want in life, can we? So, I bought this card which I thought was absolutely beautiful. I think I will frame it or put it on my peg board over the computer desk. It will remind me that each and everyone of us needs to have a vision that is true to our own being and that when we find what that is, we need to follow it and create our world accordingly. The word "attempt" has been crossed out and "transform" has been written under it. I find this reassuring. It says to me that things can be changed or altered according to your vision of the world and that it's ok to make these changes. It's even Ok to show others the change. That's revolutionary! I thought you only showed the perfect, completed, piece of art; as if your vision was born in perfect form from the beginning. Kind of like letting people only see you with your makeup on and you hair combed and every hair in place.

Just look at this interesting woman. I like to think that she was having a really bad hair day. So what did she do? She wrapped a beautiful scarf around her head and let the wild hair fly behind her. Then she added a pair of gorgeous earrings (or maybe two pairs) and said to herself ,"There..., this is how I will be today...., and I I'm beautiful." To me she says: Live for today and don't try to recreate ; TRANSFORM...,believe in yourself.

Then I saw this embroidered ribbon. Isn't this the most beautiful piece of ribbon ever? I bought 1/2 yard of it (it was VERY expensive) and I don't have any idea what I'm going to do with it. I'm kind of intimidated by it. I would like to work it into a collage but I don't want to loose the lovely texture and openess of it. I don't sew much and only have 18 inches of it, so if anyone out there has some good ideas I would love to hear them. I know someone is saying, " Ooooo!, I know what I would do with it ...., I'd.........."

Come on all of you who read blogs and don't comment: Those of you who are talented and have "vision". Start a new tradition. "Follow you bliss";.... dream, imagine, create an idea. I'm open to all suggestions, and maybe you can find inspiration to create something that will honor the loveliness of the ribbon.

If I think your idea is just too super wonderful, I will send you the ribbon so you can create your own piece of art. So please let me know what you come up with.

Why I made another "altered" book

I finally decided to make another altered book. This book was an small book that my mom bought when she was a teenager in Napa, California. The library was having a sale and she was working there so she bought it. I remember reading it when I was very young and then my sister got it when she was old enough to be read to. I've had it for years.I wanted to do something for my sister on Mother's Day , so I started looking around for a gift I could make. I found this book in a closet and it had my sisters name in it.
There are two stories in this book. The first one is the Three Billy Goats Gruff . The other story is about a wolf and a mother goat with babies; who get eaten, one by one, by the wolf. It's really kind of scary for a children's story but , as a lot of old fairy tales were a long time ago, they were fearful and scary to keep children in line. My mother's grandmother told her that there was an orangutan under a bridge near where they lived when she was a little girl so she and her brother and sister wouldn't play there. It seems there were gypsys living under the bridge and my great grandmother didn't have the time to monitor what her grandchildren were doing so she "put the fear in them." It must have worked because Mom tells that story to this day and she said they were afraid to go anywhere near the bridge. Well, ...., as I opened the book I noticed that the second story (about the wolf eating the goats) was all taped together. I decided that if I was going to give it to my sister , as an altered book, I should keep the pages of the "wolf" story glued together. My sister was always afraid of the "boogyman", so I thought it was only right to glue or cut out the scary story. I glued the pages together and glued an little old frame over the title, with a picture of sis and I on a horse. I was very happy with it and she loved it. Neither Mom or sis remembered how the pages got taped together.
This altered book was so much fun. Maybe it was because I made it for someone. Maybe it was because I had a good idea what I wanted to do with it, unlike the "altered" William Blake poetry book. Remember how I said I would never do another altered book? That one still weighs heavily on me. Loving poetry so much and pulling pages from that book was painful. But I can now say that I will make another altered book. This process called ART is very interesting. I learn something every time I create. Writing was always so imaginary and in my head. I don't feel the same obligation to my short stories and poems as I do with art work. The responsibility is there with both, just different. Writing comes easier. Art work is a new adventure with a new learning curve. Like my photos: It's a physical, visual , "seeing it as you create" thing. I like that. It's a physical translation of how I see the world. I'm getting better at the "Let it go and see what happens" part: This book for my sister was a process that was enjoyable because I 'm learning to let that "part" of me.....go.

Sorry Mr. Blake

A while back I tried my first altered book. I found an old book of William Blake poems and proceeded to "alter"( or change ) it into a work of art. When I was done I said "Never again."; and this is why.....
First of all: Never use a book, no matter how old, that matters to you. When I started to tear pages from this small old book I felt like I was killing my bantam chicken for dinner. I love books and this seemed almost sacrilegious. Being my first attempt at altering anything other than a hemline, I found the whole process painful.
Secondly: Have some idea what you want to do. Have a plan. I didn't and that my be what made the whole process so difficult. If I had thought about it ahead of time, I probably wouldn't have use "this" book. If I had thought about the guilt of tearing pages, I would have chosen something I didn't care about and the whole experience would have been so much better.
And last: Be fearless! I'm very new to "art". When I look at this altered book now, I think that it's not so bad. In fact, I'm kind of happy with the way it turned out. Maybe you have to suffer for your art; the way I suffer from arthritis and breathing after I clean and work on my gourds. I know that suffering teaches you appreciation, empathy and give you greater understanding of yourself; so maybe it makes you keep trying.... to be braver, better, and more creative too.
I keep hearing Blake saying;
" If you trap the moment before it's ripe.
The tears of repentance you'll certainly wipe;" Yes, I know I'm making a big deal out of this.
Just , please, use a book you don't care about or the author will haunt you.

Gourdelicious Gourd Artist

Gourds once grew in a garden. I buy them and make them into pieces of art. Before I change them into something lovely and/or useful they are quite awful looking. They need to dry out completely after I remove them from the garden. They get very black with mildew and are not usable for about six months.

When they are dry I begin by cleaning off all the mildew and skin residue etc. that has formed on the outside. This is done by soaking them in warm water(sometimes with a small amount of bleach added) and scrubbing them with a mesh scouring pad(I like the copper ones). This is a lot of hard work and you can get an upper body workout from cleaning these beauties, especially the big ones. Now I let them dry, again, and..... the fun begins.

I make lamps, night lights, ornaments, jewelry, vases, wall hangings, birds, birdhouses and anything that the gourd shape creates in my mind. Usually the gourd dictates what you will do with it, by it's shape or color. The saying in gourd circles is: " The gourd will tell you what it wants to be." , and in a way it's true. Sometimes the "naked" gourd has to sit around in the house for a while before I get an idea about what I will do with it. Then I drill, dye, paint, stain, burn or embellish it until I have created a work of art. It's really a great creative endeavor and so organic. I just started growing them in my garden last summer and the plant is beautiful! The gourds need a lot of support while they are growing. My husband built a strong wood structure with heavy fencing wire stretched over it. It held all the good sized gourds up all summer. They were a lovely sight.

I belong to a gourd group. We meet once a month and share ideas, go on field trips and attend gourd shows. It's fun and I learn a lot from other members. I'll bet most of you didn't know that there is a whole world of gourd lov'in people out there. Now you know.

The four photos above are samples of the work I do. The last photo is a work in progress. It will be a wall hanging when I'm done. I will put a photo of the finished piece in a later post.

Remember to commit a random act of kindness this week. Take care.